Then, wanting to lighten the mood a little, I took in Alessi’s dress again. “You look really hot tonight, by the way.” I glanced down at her feet. “And those shoes are fabulous.”
That earned a small smile from her.
“Thanks,” she said, looking down at the sparkly wedges. “I probably spent way too much money on them.”
“I’ve definitely done that before,” I said with a small chuckle. “Although my weakness is usually cute athletic sets.”
Alessi laughed softly and wiped at the corner of her eyes, then leaned closer to the mirror to check if her makeup still looked okay.
“Well,” I said after a moment, “I should probably go. I’m trying to track down Miles since he’s my ride.”
“Oh.” Alessi hesitated, biting her lip. “I think he left.”
My brows lifted. “He… left?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking a little guilty. “Sorry if I ruined your date. That argument earlier was kind of my fault. You two looked like you were having fun.”
“It’s okay,” I said quickly, waving the thought away. “We were just putting on a show for someone anyway.”
“What?” Alessi looked at me, confused.
I gave a small laugh. “Miles only asked me because he needed someone to be his fake girlfriend tonight. Apparently, he wanted to make someone jealous.”
“Really?” Alessi’s expression flickered for just a second before she looked down at the sink. “Do you know who he was trying to make jealous?”
I shrugged. “He didn’t tell me. Just someone who was supposed to be here.”
“Oh,” she said quietly.
Something about the way she said it felt strange. But before I could think too hard about it, I sighed and grabbed my clutch. “Well, I think Theo’s still here, and I’m staying at his place tonight, anyway, so I’ll just see if I can catch a ride with him.”
Alessi nodded. “Sorry again about chasing Miles off.”
“It’s okay. Apparently, he’s got a lot going on that we don’t know about.”
We said our goodbyes, and I headed back out into the hallway.
I was just turning the corner when I spotted Theo sitting in one of the chairs along the wall, looking down at something on his phone. Like he’d been waiting for someone.
Had he been waiting for me?
He glanced up when he heard my heels and immediately tucked his phone into his pocket.
“Need a ride?” he asked.
I let out a breath. “Pretty sure Miles ditched me, so… yeah.”
Theo stood. Slipping his arm behind me, he said, “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Theo and I walked out toward the parking lot where his Volvo was parked beneath a tall lamp post. Once we were inside the car, I said, “Thanks for offering me a ride.”
“I’m happy to help.” He chuckled as he started the engine. “Considering we’re literally going to the same place.”
“Yeah… about that.” I looked down at my hands in my lap, remembering what Ky had offered earlier. “I should probably get a hotel tonight. Ky said he’d pay for one.”
“You want to get a hotel this late?” Theo shot me a look like I’d just suggested something completely ridiculous.
“Well…” I hesitated. “You’ve already been so generous today. I don’t want to take advantage of your kindness.”